New NBA commissioner Adam Silver stated the obvious Friday: When Knicks guard Raymond Felton was arrested on weapons charges, it scratched an old sore -- that the league is plagued by wanna-be thugs.

But at least Silver is talking. The Knicks have yet to send an executive to the microphone to address the situation. Silver's comments were the first by the NBA on the arrest.

"We spend a lot of time here educating our players on guns," Silver said on ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike" on Friday. "We have a rookie transition program where there are several seminars about, of course, the dangers of guns. But, also, players do have a legal right to guns in certain jurisdictions and we assist our players if they are insistent on having a gun, how to do it legally.

"In this case, at least, the allegation is Raymond didn't have a legal gun in New York. So it's a problem for all of us; it's an image problem for the league."

Felton was arrested early Tuesday morning, hours after a Knicks loss at Madison Square Garden, and arraigned later in the day in Manhattan criminal court. He faces two weapons charges after his estranged wife turned a handgun over to police, saying she feared having it around. He is scheduled to return to court on June 2.

"He's always struck me as a very thoughtful, good guy," Silver said. "He's unfortunately now going to have to go though this process with the legal system, and we're a little bit of a bystander when it comes to any sort of legal proceedings. We certainly believe in due process at the NBA, and he gets the presumption of innocence."

The NBA likely will wait until the legal resolution before taking any disciplinary action.